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Florida black bears, off-limits to hunters for 20 years, may soon be in the cross hairs again. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday will be presented with proposed changes to the state's bear-management strategies, including an option to allow a hunt of the state's largest native land mammal. The aim is to keep in check the bear population and tamp down the growing number of human-bear conflicts, which have included serious injuries to four people, including two Seminole County women and a teenage girl in the Panhandle who were mauled in separate incidents. "We're not trying to sell hunting as the end-all and be-all solution,"...

Related "Endangered Species" Articles

Florida black bears, off-limits to hunters for 20 years, may soon be in the cross hairs again.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday will be presented with proposed changes to the state's bear-management strategies,...

There aren't many hands-on things Floridians can do to help wildlife such as panthers, manatees or rare woodpeckers rebound in numbers.But a monarch butterfly is an increasingly imperiled creature that nearly everybody can do a favor by planting a...

A western lowland gorilla has been born at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. The healthy male was born Dec. 16 to mother Pele, who is caring for the newborn under the watch of the park's animal care team.The birth is the second successful birth of the species at...

A tiny-but-mighty bird that depends on a critical refueling stop in Florida during a spring migration from Antarctic to Arctic regions was designated a threatened species Tuesday by federal authorities.
The announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...

It's not a made-for-TV science fiction movie. Two Canadian towns could be facing exploding whales soon.
The carcasses of three blue whales washed up on the shores of the island of Newfoundland this month, CTV reports. Now, the residents of the area...

Keep protecting manatees
Despite growing, severe threats to manatees' long-term survival, they could be federally downlisted from their current endangered status because of pressure from special-interest groups.
In recent years, cold stress and...

A Central Florida zip-line attraction has changed its name. Florida EcoSafaris will now go by the name Forever Florida - Ziplines & Adventures in the Wild.
"There has always been some confusion about what is Florida EcoSafaris and what is...

A state lawmaker who represents the Seminole County neighborhoods that have seen two bear attacks in five months is pushing a plan to mandate residents use bear-proof garbage cans.
Rep. Mike Clelland wants all residents in subdivisions with frequent bear...

Bad news, bears:
You lose.
Game over. See you later, alligator.
You have much in common with that species. Neither of you plays nice with humans sometimes. Or is it the other way around?
I'm not blaming you guys for the trouble you've caused over in...

Water lettuce isn't a fancy green for salads; it is manatee food, capable of smothering a river and the focus of growing controversy.
Water lettuce is regarded officially as a destructive exotic from another country and appropriate for blasting on...

Thanks to the Internet, television documentaries and increased school-curriculum emphasis on the natural world and humanity's place in it, kids these days know a lot about animals — and they can learn a lot more in summer camp programs at Central...

Eight eateries — including one that touts sushi and beef — will be introduced or revamped at Universal CityWalk by June, officials said Thursday.
"The basic idea was simple; hard to execute but simple: Create the best-in-category of everything you...

A large black bear lumbered into Orlando on Saturday for a quiet afternoon in a tree, drawing onlookers and raising a lingering question: Is this the same bear that visited Parramore last year?
The bear is tagged and wildlife officials told police they...

SeaWorld Orlando's animal-rescue team kept busy this week.
Rescuers helped save a stranded dolphin Thursday in Central Florida.
On the same day, SeaWorld Orlando released a rehabilitated manatee into the wild in southwest Florida.
The animal-rescue...

The newest residents of Gatorland are warm-blooded and furry. Neiko and Lucy, a brother-sister pair of Florida panthers, have moved into a new habitat dubbed Panther Springs.
The 7-year-old big cats moved in early this week and are getting accustomed...

Three Malayan tiger cubs -- two males, one female -- were born at Busch Gardens in Tampa on March 31. The animals are part of an endangered species -- about 500 Malayan tigers survive in the wild, and only in southern Thailand and the Malay...

Today's column looks at how cases like the manatee cannonball jumpers are more than just a silly prank.
There's enough of this senseless stuff going on in Florida to keep a team of 10 investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation...

Every year, trends seem to fall straight from the sky into our homes. I mean that literally. You'll recall, several years back, the butterfly trend, soon joined by the dragonfly trend. The highly stylized winged insects appeared on everything from wall...

On the last day of the annual NAACP convention last week, the Rev. Al Sharpton stepped to the mic.
"We cannot have our sons' and daughters' lives on the line for anybody who wants to pursue them, follow them and kill them — and say it's in...

In the wake of Florida's most serious bear attack on record, you're probably wondering whether it's safe to be outside — especially in the Seminole County neighborhoods where black-bear sightings are most common.
I live on a street where bears are...